


A Piece of Home

by Intronerd (PawneeEm)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, sam in atlantis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27830293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PawneeEm/pseuds/Intronerd
Summary: It's not homesickness she's feeling, Sam assures herself. She's merely adjusting to her new reality.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 36
Kudos: 100





	A Piece of Home

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the scene in Reunion, Atlantis Season 4, Where Sam is unpacking and there's a framed photograph of Jack, as well a SGC Uniform shirt.

On the first week she's too busy getting acquainted with her new command, Sam has no time to contemplate the fact that she's millions of light years away from everyone and everything she's ever loved. 

She walks each section of the Ancient city, she familiarizes herself with every nook and cranny. 

_"Colonel Carter, come join us."_

She discovers the rec rooms, where Sheppard and his team are watching what appears to be a Super Bowl game from years ago. They are arguing, relaxing and laughing. Her brain unhelpfully points out what's missing; the smell of charred meat on a grill.

It's not homesickness she's feeling, Sam assures herself. She's merely adjusting to her new reality.

She puts on an easy smile and turns them down.

"I'm more of a hockey person myself. You guys enjoy your game."

**

On the second week one of the research teams goes missing off world. 

She's busy coordinating the efforts of search and rescue, there's no time to contemplate the pieces of herself she's left behind. 

It still hits her out of nowhere when Sam turns to give an order to the guys, only to realize that neither Daniel nor Teal'c is by her side.

Lorne's team successfully extracts the missing group of scientists. 

Despite the stressful past 72 hours, the mood is joyful in the city. She joins the celebration, but only for a short while. 

Nobody wants their boss hanging around during downtime, and well, the lack of cake was so wrong on so many levels.

**

On the third week they're commemorating a new alliance. 

Possibilities and a glimmer of hope hang in the air of the alien planet. She's too busy keeping an eye on everything to dwell on memories of campfires, and other off world celebrations from the past.

She watches her men and women drink the local brew, and sticks to canteen water herself.

A slightly inebriated McKay asks her again why she's turning down the free booze, _“you’re such a buzzkill”._

There's no way in hell she's telling Rodney about the time she _did_ partake in the moonshine, and started taking off her.. _nope, not going there._

Besides, The General... _Jack_ tells this story much better.

...

A whole month is already gone when it finally descends on her. 

She's getting ready for bed, when suddenly the shirt she's been sleeping snuggled into for the past 32 days is no longer tucked under her pillow.

Sam searches the room frantically, before she remembers leaving in a hurry this morning to attend to an emergency.

The cleaning crew was in her quarters.

She spies the blue uniform shirt cleaned, pressed, and folded among her other laundered uniform shirts. 

It no longer smells like him. Woodsy, masculine and just... a piece of home.

She could call the cleaning staff, give them a dressing down, warn them against handling other people's private items without asking first.

After all she's _"The Man"_. Sam cringes at the sexist concept.

She does nothing. Sam just sits in the darkened room, millions of miles away from home.

She's utterly and completely alone. 

..

On the third month she wakes up one morning, and just like every morning, her eyes land on the row of frames on the dresser. 

Pictures are a poor substitute for the people she's missing. 

She traces a finger across the smiling features of the man she's left behind. 

_"So proud of you, Carter."_ His parting words had set her heart soaring. His faith in her meant everything.

Yet she wishes he'd chosen different words.

_Stay._

She knows he would never ask her to prioritize him over her career. She almost wishes he would.

Just like she'd never asked him to retire all those years ago, back when they cared a lot more than they were supposed to.

Sam knows without a doubt that he would have given up everything for her.

The same way she knows that she would have turned down this assignment, if only he'd asked.

So here they are, two proud, stubborn idiots, galaxies apart.

**

On the fifth month Sam decides that she has no intention of befriending the blonde doctor currently grilling her with personal questions.

It's not that Keller isn't easy to like, but Sam has her reasons.

For one, the younger woman is too inquisitive, too smart to miss the smaller details, particularly the ones Sam is not ready to speak out loud just yet, and two, Sam decides that replacing one CMO best friend with another is a betrayal of some kind... or something.

She blurts out the information anyway.

"He's in DC, but he's retiring soon."

Later that night Sam's heart feels a little lighter. Acknowledging him to someone else feels good.

She fingers the patch on his shirt before she buries her face in it.

 _I miss you._ She finally tells him.

**

On the sixth month the gate activates and he's right there.

_"I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by."_

His jokes are just as terrible 10 years later.

Her heart doesn't give a crap as it skips a couple of beats, just as it did when she'd first met him a decade ago. 

She wonders, not for the first time, whether her career aspirations are worth them being apart. _Well, of course they are_. She could almost hear him scoff.

But she’s missed his handsome face dearly. 

Eight years of serving together, day in and day out, and then two years of weekends together, between Colorado and DC, she’s become used to having him in her life. 

The past six months have been torture, and if the emotions reflected in his eyes are any indication, he misses her too.

He is here for work, of course, a mission on behalf of Homeworld.

Jack tells her she's doing a great job, and later that same night, he sneaks into her quarters, undetected by the people of her city, and he proves her he's missed her with actions rather than words.

"I wish..." She tries to tell him afterwards. She tries to explain why she's left, why they're not together at home, making up for lost time, and for the years of yearning. Why they're worlds apart instead.

He shushes her. He says he understands. He knows this command matters the most right now. Her career, her growth, her need to prove her leadership capabilities, “Dad was great, but I can’t wait for you to make a much better looking General Carter one day".

Jack kisses away her giggles.

"They said I could step down in a year."

He promises. As much of a promise as could exist between the two of them.

When he's gone the next day, she locks her quarter's before heading to the office. She makes sure no one can access her quarters without her explicit permission.

She wonders for how long the sheets would hold on to his smell. She also wonders whether he'll notice the black t-shirt missing from his bag.

**

On the thirteenth month she's stopping by Colorado Springs. Home.

Sam muses, she's never before had a town to call home. Living the life of a military brat, moving from one base to the next, then to the academy and her own assignments across the country, and the world. Hell, the universe.

Home smells like coffee and bacon in the morning. Charred meat and beer in the evening. It smells like safety and hope. Like something that’s hers, if only she’d reach out and take it.

Home smells like Jack's shirt.

**

On the fifteenth month she's back home for good.

She's late for work and unable to find her shoe. Sam pokes her head under Jack's bed, _their bed_ , when she finds it.

Her big blue sweater, the most comfy piece of clothing she's ever owned. It went missing after returning from her first visit to Jack's cabin, almost three years ago.

She's looked everywhere.

"What are you doing with my sweater?" 

He has the audacity to blush, and doesn't meet her gaze as he recalls the months he's slept with her sweater tucked against him in bed. 

Sam is overcome with a wave of emotion she can't easily explain.

She has known him for nearly eleven years, and Sam can hardly remember a time when she hasn't been in love with this man. 

She tells him as much.

**

Two years after Sam got her orders to assume command of the Atlantis expedition, she stands before the clerk in the El Paso County Courthouse.

Jack squeezes her hand and asks if she's certain. _"You could do much better, you know?"_

His eyes are playful, but also sincerely apprehensive.

"You're not getting out of this, old man." 

A new frame containing a photo from this day joins the others on her desk at the SGC.

Other than Daniel and Teal'c, who witnessed the courthouse ceremony personally, no one knows that this is a wedding photo. 

Sam is dressed in a blue uniform shirt that looks a little too big for her frame.

She shakes her head at how sappy she's been about choosing this outfit, _"It's my something old, borrowed and blue."_ She told him.

The dopey, adoring look on Jack's face makes the cheesiness worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Massive thank you to the amazing Lori and Joy for the beta, corrections and all the support <3


End file.
